Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg

Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
Queen consort of Spain
Tenure	31 May 1906 – 14 April 1931
Born	(1887-10-24)24 October 1887 Balmoral Castle, Scotland
Died	15 April 1969(1969-04-15) (aged 81) Lausanne, Switzerland
Burial	18 April 1969 Sacré Coeur Catholic Church, Lausanne, Switzerland 25 April 1985 El Escorial , Spain
Spouse	Alfonso XIII ​ ​ (m. 1906; sep. 1931)​
Issue	Alfonso, Prince of Asturias Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia Infanta Beatriz, Princess of Civitella-Cesi Infanta María Cristina, Countess Marone Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona Infante Gonzalo
Names Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena
Battenberg
Father	Prince Henry of Battenberg
Mother	Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom

Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena; 24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) was

due to a Royal Warrant issued in 1886 by Queen Victoria.

Early life

Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg was born on 24 October 1887 at

As Prince Henry was the product of a morganatic marriage, he took his style of Prince of Battenberg from his mother, who had been created Princess of Battenberg in her own right. As such, Henry's children would normally have been born with the style "Serene Highness"; however, Queen Victoria had issued a Royal Warrant on 4 December 1886 granting the higher style of "Highness" to all sons and daughters of Prince Henry and Princess Beatrice, thus she was born Her Highness Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg.^[2] She was named for her maternal grandmother Victoria and for her godmother, Eugénie de Montijo, the Spanish-born French empress who lived in exile in the United Kingdom. To her family, and the British general public, she was known by a diminutive of the last of her names, as Ena. She was born in the 50th year of Queen Victoria’s reign, so she was called "the Jubilee baby".^[3]

She was baptised in the Drawing Room at Balmoral. Her godparents were Empress Eugénie (represented by Princess Frederica of Hanover), the German Crown Princess (her maternal aunt; represented by the Duchess of Roxburghe), the Princess of Battenberg (her paternal grandmother; represented by the Marchioness of Ely), Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (her maternal aunt; represented by the Countess of Erroll), Prince Louis of Battenberg (her paternal uncle; represented by the Earl of Hopetoun) and the Duke of Edinburgh (her maternal uncle; represented by Sir Henry Ponsonby).^[4]

Victoria Eugenie grew up in Queen Victoria's household, as the British monarch had reluctantly allowed Beatrice to marry on the condition that she remain her mother's full-time companion and personal secretary. Therefore, she spent her childhood at Windsor Castle, Balmoral, and Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousins, the Duke (later King George V) and Duchess of York on 6 July 1893.^[5]

When she was six, Victoria Eugenie suffered a severe concussion when she was thrown off her pony at Osborne and hit her head on the ground.^[6] Queen Victoria's physicians noticed "dangerous symptoms", such as "evident signs of brain pressure, probably a haemorrhage". Her aunt Victoria, Princess Royal, wrote, "it is so grievous that [Victoria Eugenie] cannot take notice or open her eyes".^[6]

Victoria Eugenie was close to her grandmother Queen Victoria. She reflected that "having been born and brought up in her home, Queen Victoria was like a second mother to us. She was very kind but very strict, with old fashioned ideas of how children must be brought up".^[7] When Victoria Eugenie said, "I think it is time for us to go to bed", Queen Victoria corrected her. "Young woman, a princess should say, 'I think it is time for me to retire'.^[6] Queen Victoria wrote that "I love these darling children so, almost as much as their own parent" and referred to Victoria Eugenie as "the little treasure".^[6] Her father died while on active military service after contracting fever in Africa in 1896. After the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, her mother and her family moved out of Osborne House and took up residence in Kensington Palace in London. Princess Beatrice inherited Osborne Cottage on the Isle of Wight from her mother.^[8]

Engagement and wedding

In 1905, King Alfonso XIII of Spain made an official state visit to the United Kingdom. Victoria Eugenie's maternal uncle, King Edward VII, hosted a dinner in Buckingham Palace in honour of the Spanish king. Alfonso was seated between Queen Alexandra and Princess Helena, King Edward's sister. He noticed Victoria Eugenie and asked who the dinner guest with almost white hair was. Everybody knew that King Alfonso was looking for a suitable bride and one of the strongest candidates was Princess Patricia of Connaught, another niece of King Edward. As Princess Patricia seemed not to be impressed by the Spanish monarch, Alfonso indulged his interest in Victoria Eugenie, and so the courtship began. When Alfonso returned to Spain he frequently sent postcards to Victoria Eugenie and spoke of her approvingly. His mother, Queen Maria Cristina, did not like her son's choice, in part because she considered the Battenbergs non-royal because of the obscure origin of Prince Henry's mother, and in part because she wanted her son to marry within her own family.^{[citation needed]} Other obstacles to a marriage were religion (Alfonso was Roman Catholic, and Victoria Eugenie was Anglican); and, the potential problem of haemophilia, the disease that Queen Victoria had transmitted to some of her descendants. Victoria Eugenie's brother, Leopold, was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50% probability that she would be a carrier, although the degree of risk was not yet known. Still, if Alfonso married her, their issue could be affected by the disease. Nonetheless, Alfonso was not dissuaded.

After a year of rumours about which princess Alfonso would marry, his mother finally acceded to her son's selection in January 1906 and wrote a letter to Victoria Eugenie's mother, telling her about the love Alfonso felt for her daughter and seeking unofficial contact with the king. Some days later at Windsor, King Edward congratulated his niece on her future engagement.

Princess Beatrice and her daughter arrived in Biarritz on 22 January and stayed at the Villa Mauriscot where some days later King Alfonso met them. At the Villa Mauriscot, Alfonso and his future bride conducted a chaperoned, three-day romance. Then, Alfonso took Victoria Eugenie and her mother to San Sebastián to meet Queen Maria Cristina. On 3 February, the king left San Sebastian to go to Madrid and Victoria Eugenie and her mother went to Versailles where the Princess would be instructed in the Catholic faith: as the future Queen of Spain, she agreed to convert. The official reception of Victoria Eugenie into the Catholic faith took place on 5 March 1906 at Miramar Palace in San Sebastián.

The terms of the marriage were settled by two agreements, a public treaty and a private contractual arrangement. The treaty was executed between Spain and the United Kingdom in London on 7 May 1906 by their respective

.

Despite this treaty, concern about the reaction to the marriage and to Victoria Eugénie's conversion among

of Victoria Eugénie's father in the United Kingdom had been initiated in Parliament a week prior to his marriage to Princess Beatrice, the nuptials were completed before the naturalisation, thus the Government was able to take the position that Victoria Eugénie was not bound by the Royal Marriages Act, and therefore the British king had legal authority neither to authorise nor forbid her marriage.

The King did, however, issue a

Princess Victoria Eugenie married King Alfonso XIII at the

.

After the wedding ceremony, as the royal procession was heading back to the

Mateu Morral

threw a bomb from a balcony at the royal carriage. Victoria Eugenie's life was saved because, at the exact moment the bomb exploded, she turned her head in order to see St. Mary's Church, which Alfonso was showing her. She escaped injury, although her dress was spotted with the blood of a guard who was riding beside the carriage. A large statue in front of the Royal Monastery of San Jeronimo commemorates the victims of the bombing of 31 May 1906.

Queen of Spain

After the inauspicious start to her tenure as Queen of Spain, Victoria Eugenie became isolated from the Spanish people and was unpopular in her new land. Her married life improved when she gave birth to a son and heir apparent to the kingdom,

was similarly afflicted, Alfonso is alleged never to have forgiven Victoria Eugenie nor to have come to terms with what had happened. In all, King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie had seven children, five sons and two daughters. Neither of their daughters is known to have been a carrier of haemophilia.

After the births of their children, Victoria Eugenie's relationship with Alfonso deteriorated, and he had numerous affairs. It has been said that he had a dalliance with the Queen's cousin, Beatrice, Duchess of Galliera, but this is disputed. Then members of the king's circle spread rumours that Beatrice had been expelled because of her bad behaviour, which was not true. All this situation was very painful for the Queen, who could do nothing to help her cousin.

Victoria Eugenie devoted herself to work for hospitals and services for the poor, as well as to education. She was also involved in the reorganization of the Spanish

. In 1929, the city of Barcelona erected a statue of her in a nurse's uniform in honour of her Red Cross work (the statue has since been destroyed).

Various Spanish landmarks have been named after Victoria Eugenie. For instance, in 1909, Madrid's stately neoclassical bridge crossing the

which was named after her.

She was the 976th

Royal Order of Victoria and Albert

by her grandmother, Queen Victoria. The Queen was also awarded the Spanish Red Cross Merit Order (First Class) and the jewelled breast star was paid for by a subscription undertaken by the Corps of Lady Nurses of the Spanish Red Cross.

Exile

The Spanish royal family went into exile on 14 April 1931 after

.

In 1938, the whole family gathered in Rome for the baptism at the

Victoria Eugenie returned briefly to Spain in February 1968, to stand as godmother at the baptism of her great-grandson,

King Juan Carlos I

, abdicated in June 2014.

Death

Victoria Eugenie died in Lausanne on 15 April 1969, aged 81, exactly 38 years after she had left Spain for exile. She was the last surviving child of

Escorial

, outside Madrid, next to the remains of her husband, Alfonso XIII, and not far from her sons, Infante Alfonso, Infante Jaime, and Infante Gonzalo.

Legacy

After the death of Spanish dictator

.

Victoria Eugenie left eight important pieces of jewellery written in her will that, following her instructions, would be transmitted privately to the head of the royal family successively to be worn by the following Queens of Spain. The jewellery collection, known as the

A sapphire ring owned by Victoria Eugenie was sold at Sotheby's in May 2012 for $50,000.^[15] That same year, Sotheby's also sold at auction Victoria Eugenie's diamond and pink conch shell bracelet by Cartier for the extraordinary price of $3.4 million.^[16]

Honours and arms

Orders and decorations

• Grand Cross of the Imperial Austrian Order of Elizabeth, 1908^[17]
• Dame of the Order of the Starry Cross^[17]
• Order of Saint-Charles, (19 April 1958)^[18]

Arms

Coat of arms of Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg

Notes Victoria Eugenie's coat of arms as Queen of Spain (1906-1931/1941, titular) were the former Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (in the English version), overall an inescutcheon with the arms of her father Prince Henry of Battenberg; quarterly 1st and 4th, Hesse (modified), 2nd and 3rd, Battenberg. Prince Henry's arms modified by a bordure charged with the lions of England (eight). Escutcheon compony Argent and Gules (for Hesse, modified), second and third Argent, two pallets Sable (for Battenberg), a bordure Gules charged with eight lions passant gardant Or armed and langued Azure (for England).[19]

Other versions

• 
  Coat of arms used as Highness (Before 1906)
• 
  Coat of arms as UK Royal Highness (1906)
• 
  Royal Monogram as Queen of Spain
• 
  Coat of arms as widow (1941–1969)

Issue

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Alfonso, Prince of Asturias	10 May 1907	6 September 1938(1938-09-06) (aged 31)	He renounced rights to the Spanish throne for himself and his descendants (because of his intended unequal marriage) on 11 June 1933; m. 1st 1933 (div. 1937) Edelmira Ignacia Adriana Sampedro-Robato (5 March 1906 – 23 May 1994); m. 2nd 1937 (div. 1938) Marta Esther Rocafort-Altuzarra (18 September 1913 – 4 February 1993). He died in a car crash in 1938.
Infante Jaime, Duke of Segovia	23 June 1908	20 March 1975(1975-03-20) (aged 66)	He renounced rights to the Spanish throne (because of his physical infirmities) on 21 June 1933. He married Donna Emmanuelle de Dampierre on 4 March 1935 and they were divorced on 6 May 1947, and had issue. He remarried Charlotte Tiedemann on 3 August 1949.
Infanta Beatriz of Spain	22 June 1909	22 November 2002(2002-11-22) (aged 93)	She married Alessandro Torlonia, 5th Prince of Civitella-Cesi on 14 January 1935, and had issue.
Infante Fernando	21 May 1910	21 May 1910(1910-05-21) (aged 0)	stillborn
Infanta María Cristina of Spain	12 December 1911	23 December 1996(1996-12-23) (aged 85)	She married Enrico Eugenio Marone-Cinzano, 1st Count Marone on 10 June 1940, and had issue.
Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona	20 June 1913	1 April 1993(1993-04-01) (aged 79)	He was recognised as heir apparent to the Spanish throne and held the title Prince of Asturias. He married Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies on 12 October 1935, and had issue (including Juan Carlos I of Spain).
Infante Gonzalo	24 October 1914	13 August 1934(1934-08-13) (aged 19)	also a haemophiliac. He died in a car accident in Austria.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg
8. Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom 15. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

References

Further reading

• Noel, Gerard. Ena: Spain's English Queen, Constable, 1984.
• "Franco at Bourbon Prince's Baptism", The Times, 9 February 1968, p. 4, column 4.
• "Queen Victoria Eugénie, Granddaughter of Queen Victoria (Obituary)", The Times, 16 April 1969, p. 12, column E.
• ISBN 0-938311-04-2
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg.

• Royal House of Spain
• "Treaty between the United Kingdom and Spain for the Marriage of His Majesty the King of Spain with Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena" – 7 May 1906. Archived 9 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine
• Portraits of Victoria Eugenie ('Ena') of Battenberg, Queen of Spain at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg House of Hesse-Darmstadt Born: 24 October 1887 Died: 15 April 1969
Spanish royalty
Vacant Title last held by Maria Christina of Austria	Queen consort of Spain 1906–1931	Vacant Title next held by Sophia of Greece and Denmark
Titles in pretence
Loss of title	— TITULAR — Queen consort of Spain 14 April 1931 – 15 January 1941	Succeeded by Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies